Source. What you should take away from this post: You don’t have to use examples that support your point directly You can also use reverse examples to support your point indirectly EXAMPLE: Let’s say the point you want to make is that teens to need make their own decisions and face the consequences to become (more…)
© Copyright Iain Lees and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. Sorting Through the Trash and Finding the Gems… To be honest, this article has a lot of overlap with this one. But this post comes at it from another angle, so hopefully you can learn how to read critically a bit better. Okay, here’s a test. I (more…)
I’ve touched upon inference questions in an earlier post (remember: ask yourself WHY something was written, not just WHAT is written). But logic-based inference questions get their own special article because they are a more specialized and advanced subcategory of inference questions. These questions truly test if you know WHY something was written. They don’t (more…)
This is Part 5 of a multi-part series on how to write a stellar SAT essay. Check out the other parts here: [part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4] Things You’ll Learn From This Post: Paragraph 3 is identical to Paragraph 2 w/ one exception (transition) There needs to be transition between paragraphs “Like” and “Addition” transitions (more…)
There are two levels to understanding a sentence: What it actually says (superficial first level) What purpose/role/function it serves (deeper second level) Remember back in elementary school when we played the most annoying game on earth…the Why Game? I do. I vividly remember how I used it to torture my friends, family, and teachers. Basically, (more…)
This is Part 4 of a multi-part essay series. Check out those other parts first, if you haven’t already. [part 1, part 2, part 3] Deep analysis avoids claim and summary as much as possible. If you make a claim, you back it up with examples and reasoning. If you give a summary, you also (more…)
This is part 3 of a multi-post series on writing the 25-minute SAT essay, a paragraph-by-paragraph, sentence-by-sentence breakdown. Basically, these posts will construct a full-fledged essay template. If you haven’t checked out part 1 on the introduction paragraph, jump on over there first. And part 2 on topic sentences here. I had this convo the other (more…)
Reading comprehension, compared to math and grammar, is much more resistant to strategy attacks. Reading comp questions are like the cockroaches of the SAT world—nearly immune to pesticide (our tactics and strategies). The only way to truly and effectively conquer these pesky questions is the old fashion way: stomping them dead. By that I mean (more…)
Source. This is part 2 of a multi-post series on writing the 25-minute SAT essay, a paragraph-by-paragraph, sentence-by-sentence breakdown. Basically, these posts will construct a full-fledged essay template. If you haven’t checked out part 1 on the introduction paragraph, jump on over there first. Paragraph 2 — Example 1/Analysis (approx. 7-10 sentences): (more…)
You know the 5-paragraph essay format you learned way back when? Use it. Or at least use a 4-paragraph essay where you cut out one of the body paragraphs. Of course there are other formats that can get you a nice score on this essay, but if you don’t already know them, now is not (more…)
Things have been absolutely bonkers for me lately, a fact which has been deleterious to the frequency of posts on this site. Although I’ve been keeping up with the Q&A alright, long-form posts on this blog have taken a bit of a back seat. That probably bothers me more than it bothers you, but I’ve (more…)
